William Byron at Martinsville – Team Chevy Photo
NASCAR Cup Series – Martinsville Speedway
Round of Eight: Elimination Race
Team Chevy Post-Race Report
October 26, 2025
October 26, 2025: NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia
(HHP/Jacy Norgaard)
Byron, Larson Set to Represent Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Four
* Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron turned in a career run at
Martinsville Speedway to earn his third win of the season and his
third-straight trip to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Four. His
third career Martinsville clock came after a near dominate performance
– claiming the pole position, a sweep of the stage wins and a tallying
a race-high 304 laps en route to his chance at competing for his first
championship title in NASCAR’s top division.
* With a top five finish, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson will have
the opportunity to compete for his second career NASCAR Cup Series
Championship – delivering Chevrolet two spots in next weekend’s
title-deciding race.
* Chevrolet is the only manufacturer to have the opportunity to compete
for the championship in all three series, with JR Motorsports and
Richard Childress Racing powering the manufacturer to a sweep of the
Championship Four positions in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Tyler Ankrum representing the Bowtie brand
in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title-deciding race.
* For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, William Byron
earned the pole position at Martinsville Speedway to lead the field to
the green-flag in Sunday’s Xfinity 500. With one last chance to punch
a ticket into the Championship Four, the Hendrick Motorsports duo of
Byron and Kyle Larson took over the top-two positions at the drop of the
green-flag. While the pair settled into position, teammate Chase Elliott
made a quick march up the leaderboard – already taking over the third
position by Lap 25.
With the first caution flag of the day falling just
two laps later, all three Team Chevy playoff contenders were called to
pit road for a four-tire stop. Electing the outside lane for the
restart, Byron found his way back in command with 95 laps to go in the
opening stage. Resuming their positions in the top-three, the Team Chevy
playoff trio pulled to a nearly three-second lead by the halfway mark in
Stage One as they approached lap traffic for the first time. Quickly
finding his footing in traffic, Byron started to build a cushion over
Larson as the long green-flag run continued. Continuing caution-free to
the green-white checkered flag, Byron’s stellar opening stage saw the
27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native lead all 130 laps and lap
up to the 14th position en route to the stage win – leading all three
Team Chevy playoff contenders to top-five stage points.
* After a trip to pit road under the stage break, the No. 24 Hendrick
Motorsports Chevrolet regained control on the opening lap of Stage Two.
Continuing to hold strong in command, Byron progressively pulled away to
a 2.5-second lead as the battle for second ensued, which saw the No. 5
Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet take the position with under 50 laps to
go in the stage – just in time for the second natural caution of the
race to fall. Faced with a set of late-stage restarts, it was no contest
for Byron as the Hendrick Motorsports driver went on to sweep the stage
wins. Mirroring the Stage One results, Byron’s teammates also earned
back-to-back top-five points to set up the final run to the
checkered-flag.
* Looking for an adjustment to help maneuver through lap traffic, Byron
led the field to pit road under the stage break with crew chief, Rudy
Fugle, making the call for four tires, fuel and an air pressure
adjustment. Lining up on the third row for the restart, Byron quickly
went back to work – progressively clicking off positions to find himself
in the third position by Lap 317. Varying pit strategies under the stage
break put Larson in the eighth position for the start of the final stage
– putting the battle on the bubble at a single-digit margin. As the race
approached the 100-lap countdown, the race for the lead saw two playoff
drivers in a “must-win” position to keep their title hopes alive,
including Byron, who trailed then-race leader, Ryan Blaney, within a
one-second margin. Controlling the bottom lane in turn one on Lap 457,
Byron cleared Blaney to take the lead back – ultimately going on to
take the checkered flag and a berth into the Championship Four.
Team Chevy Unofficial Top-10 Results
Pos. Driver
1st – William Byron
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Ross Chastain
5th – Kyle Larson
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
William, could you pick a better spot for your first-ever walk-off win?
“No. Damn, I got a lot to say (smiling). Things have a way of working
out. God really tests your resilience a lot of times. We’ve been tested.
Just unbelievable. I watched my first NASCAR race up there just before
the start/finish line. Man, I am just so thankful, excited to see my
family and just celebrate this one.”
You mentioned all that you have been through and this team has been
through. Have you ever been through more emotional swings in 10 weeks to
get to this point?
“No. I mean, we just worked so hard, all these guys work so hard. You
put everything into Sunday’s. Sometimes you don’t get anything in
return. That’s been the last couple weeks. Honestly, throughout the
year, we had some close calls. But sometimes life is that way. You just
have to keep being resilient, and this No. 24 team did that.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
What else could you have done with your car in those final laps?
“Just be positioned better. Obviously, those final laps get tough
when the guys out front have a big advantage when the track cleans off
like that. It was just going to be difficult. I was just hoping, in my
position, to get to a spot where I could maybe capitalize if something
crazy happened.
Outside of that, we just got a little too far behind at the
three-quarter mark. We got caught a lap down in the cycle, and then from
there, we were just kind of playing catch-up. We just weren’t quite
good enough, truthfully. William (Byron) and the No. 24 team did a great
job and capitalized on a fast Saturday; put themselves in a good spot
and got it done.”
What can you take away from this season going into Phoenix next weekend?
“I feel like we’ve had some of our best races over the last month,
which is a lot of fun to end the year strong and be up there in the mix
a lot more. I’m proud of that and the fight all day today and
throughout the week. The effort everybody at Hendrick Motorsports put
into these cars and just trying to bring our very best here, I thought
we did that. Unfortunately, we just came up short. But fortunately, we
got two cars into the Championship Four and hopefully one of them can
get it done.”
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 4th
“There was a time where when we did the choose for the restart, there
was only one car behind us. And then at the end, there was only two cars
in front of us. Definitely both ends of the spectrum today for this No.
1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet team. The left side’s torn up from the
first-half of the race because we struggled. We were getting beat up
pretty bad. We went a lap down; made some good adjustments when we took
the wave around. It was a free pit stop, per say, later and Phil Surgen
(crew chief) did a bunch of adjustments and it brought the car back to
life. We caught that caution, which took us from around 10th into the
top five.”
What do you feel like this Martinsville race produced today?
“I think we just watched William Byron cement himself into the
championship race. As a kid, I remember watching the No. 24 car win and
dominate here. To be buddies with William now, I saw at the end of the
race a guy go and solidify himself in that car for a very long time, not
that there was any question about that.
Really cool for Chevrolet to go do that and beat the No. 12 car (Ryan
Blaney) here. At a flat track, it’s hard to do these days, but the No.
24 car just flat-out drove by him on the long-run and held him off on
the short run at the end. As a friend, that was really, really cool to
watch.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
Was that stressful and how do you think the No. 5 team handled today?
“I think it was a little less stressful because I recognized that we
were better than Christopher (Bell). We were in front of him all day, so
I knew if we had a good first stage that the math was going to be much
easier. I just had to keep him in my sights at that point. The No. 5
HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team just did a great job. We didn’t have
any hiccups. I definitely could have had better restarts, but like I
said, I had out-scored Christopher, so I was just playing it a little
easier; tuck in line and go from there. We had a good long-run car.
Happy to be in the Championship Four. Really proud of William (Byron).
That was a hell of a drive. We have two Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet’s going for the championship and hopefully we can do it for
Rick (Hendrick).”
What’s your early outlook on the competition for the Championship Four
next weekend?
“I don’t know… Denny (Hamlin) was good at Phoenix earlier this
year. The No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) has gotten better as they’ve gotten
comfortable with each other, so I’m sure he’ll be really strong.
He’s tough. He can figure out how to get to the front. William, after
a performance like that tonight, he’s going to carry a lot of
confidence into next weekend. We have confidence in ourselves. I feel
like the No. 5 team was decent there earlier this season, and I think
our short-track package has gotten way better. I feel like at Gateway,
we were really strong. And then at New Hampshire, we were probably a
little bit better than the Gibb’s cars and maybe my teammates for a
lot of the race. We’ll see. I’m just glad we have an opportunity to
go out there and race for a championship.”
(HHP/Jacy Norgaard)
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 13th
“After a strong qualifying effort with the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet, we
battled a tight center that led us to go a lap down early in the race.
The entire Richard Childress Racing team made adjustments throughout the
race that not only got us back on the lead lap, but had us inside the
Top 10 at race’s end. We leave Martinsville Speedway with a 13th-place
finish, and will look to Phoenix next week with our focus on concluding
the season with a win.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 16th
“We battled hard today. It was an eventful day for our Bass Pro
Shops/Winchester Waterfowl Chevrolet but this No. 3 team just kept
grinding it out. We kept our heads down, made the next best decision and
got our balance in a really good spot in the second half of the race.
Proud of the effort, and we will look to finish our season strong next
week in Phoenix.”